Mine to Give, Yours to Return, & No One's to Know
by Rome OMD
Summary: It’s sometimes strange the way things work out, thinks Itachi; that as his vision becomes progressively worse, his feelings for Naruto should become increasingly clearer.


Summary: It's sometimes strange the way things work out, thinks Itachi; that as his vision becomes progressively worse, his feelings for Naruto should become increasingly clearer.

Part(s): One-shot

Rating: PG-13

Date of Publication: 5/23/08

Note(s): This is an ItaNaru story, meaning that there will be yaoi in here. Also, I'm a bit fuzzy on the _Shippuden_ story line and details—I've heard what happens from other people but have yet to reach that part myself—so, please be warned, since the last scenes are meant to somewhat correspond with the latest of Itachi's scenes, and I have, as I do all my stories, tweaked a few details here and there. And… there's OOC. I can't help it; OOC-ness just shoves its way into all of my stories.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Any references to its story or characters in the following piece of fiction are completely for non-profit purposes.

Mine to Give, Yours to Return, and No One's to Know

By Rome OMD

Itachi looks forward at his opponent, stolid to the open wound on his side, which is staining his Akatsuki robes an ugly red. His breathing is hitched, his vision is blurry, and his mind is unfocused—rather, it is not focused on the current battle. Abruptly, he coughs blood.

He can hardly discern the outline of his opponent's figure, but it does not worry him. He is not thinking of his battle with his younger brother, as he should have been. He is thinking instead of deep, blue eyes; of tanned skin; of bright blonde hair; and of a tattooed seal.

And, he is thinking how love is not so elusive—even to people like him.

--

"Thanks for the ramen!"

"You're always welcome, Naruto. Can we expect another visit before you head off for your next mission?"

"Of course! I won't be here for the next couple years, I don't think—well, if Ero-Sennin's telling the truth and will actually train me—so, yeah, definitely!"

"All right, Naruto. We'll hold you to your word."

"Sure, old man!" Naruto gave him a quick but genuine smile as he left, narrowly dodging the kitchen utensil thrown his way, and headed for his apartment.

Once there, he threw his keys on the nearest table and stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers, before searching for his teddy-bear nightcap (No, he definitely was not too old for it) and heading to bed. "Where is it, where is it," he spoke aloud to no one in particular.

Or, so he thought.

"Who's there?" Naruto called out, halting mid-movement. He searched for the foreign chakra, but it had disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. He warily looked around the apartment, before cautiously making his way to his bedroom. With one hand tightly holding a kunai and the other steadied on his bedroom door, he slowly pushed the door open.

Naruto nearly doubled over from shock. As soon as Itachi looked up, Naruto instinctively looked away, avoiding his Sharingan eyes like sunlight. "You needn't turn away from meeting my gaze. I'm not here to hurt you. At least, not intentionally."

"What are you doing here?"

"Again, I tell you that you needn't avoid my gaze. I'm not here to hurt you."

"Why the hell should I believe you?" Despite his outward show of confidence, Naruto inwardly knew that Itachi was vastly more powerful than he was; however, he desperately hoped that his fear was not obvious. His ears caught the sound of approaching footfalls, and he instinctively backed towards the door.

Naruto instantly panicked—since when had the bedroom door been closed?

Naruto aimed his kunai at the imposing Akatsuki member but missed noticeably. He quickly reached for another, his grip so tight that his knuckles turned white. Itachi took his time in walking towards Naruto, like predator approaching prey, until he was no further than a breath away. Naruto immediately stiffened and unceremoniously dropped his kunai upon feeling Itachi unexpectedly place a hand on his cheek, turning his head until, when the genin opened his eyes in shock, he saw eyes like fire, eyes so red, before fearfully closing his own shut.

Itachi leaned forward even more, so that his breath danced upon Naruto's ear and caused unwarranted shivers down his smaller body when he spoke. "If I had wanted to, I could have killed you three times while I was by your window."

"Why didn't you, you bastard?"

"I have my reasons."

"What do you want?" Naruto said, his voice laced with fear. There was no use hiding it anymore; with Itachi this close, he was flirting with death. Itachi's free hand languidly crawled underneath Naruto's shirt, until it rested upon the tattooed seal on Naruto's stomach. The genin stiffened at the unexpected contact, his eyes fluttering open at the physical intrusion. He was fairly certain that if anger were power, he could've taken Itachi down right then and there.

"So these are the eyes with which my younger brother fell in love. I can now see why. They are very enticing."

Naruto felt something akin to a kunai stabbing his insides at the mention of Sasuke. "What about Sasuke? Where is he?" he demanded.

"My younger brother is nothing but foolish. That you should still care about his whereabouts after his having abandoned and betrayed you is a wonder."

Naruto suddenly felt Itachi's hand stroking his abdomen very slowly—but also, very gently?—and had to try his hardest to remain unresponsive. He inwardly cursed himself for gasping when Itachi's hands traveled just a bit lower; he trusted neither his body nor voice lest they should betray his unintended enjoyment of such touches, but from the light in his eyes, Itachi already knew.

"This is what I want. And I will get it."

And when Itachi moved away, Naruto's body immediately missed the touch of his caresses, though Naruto would never admit it. As soon as Itachi turned to leave, he jumped up and glared at his navy blue Akatsuki robes and shouted, "Where is Sasuke? You know where he is, don't you! Tell—"

Something about Itachi's gaze, when he slightly turned, stole the words from Naruto's mouth. Was Itachi using an illusion? No, he couldn't have—Naruto was aware that he still _had_ control, but was for some unknown reason _willingly_ forfeiting it.

"That my brother should have given up something so precious is a testament to his foolishness." And with that, he left.

Naruto wouldn't see him again for another two years.

--

"Damn that Ero-Sennin for making me still do his errands! Damn it, I'm pretty much fifteen years old, and he—argh!" Naruto screamed in frustration. "Dattebayo!" he added in for good measure.

The sun was already setting in the distance, becoming nothing but a thin orange line in the darkening horizon. It was a beautiful sight, but an abrupt growl from his stomach immediately prompted him from his reverie. He had yet to have dinner, and his stomach was quite diligent in remind him of this fact.

Was that ramen? He swore he could've smelled some delicious ramen off to his right, but impeding him was a grove of thick trees. He could follow the pathway and take the long way around, or could simply cut through…

"What the heck, I'm starving!" And so, Naruto disappeared into the neighboring trees, trusting his nose to guide him to an appetizing and worthwhile dinner.

No sooner had he entered did Naruto begin to regret his decision. He encountered nearly perfect darkness, with only small pools of light on the ground as a result from the moonlight peeking through the few openings between the branches of the still, neighboring trees. Still, he had his nose by which to guide him, and he walked on forward, trusting his nearly infallible sense of smell.

A few minutes later, he heard an unnatural rustling from somewhere around him and immediately froze, reaching back to grasp a kunai. Naruto closed his eyes, carefully listening to his surroundings.

"There!" Naruto pointed out as he launched his kunai to the left and opened his eyes to see the offending person. "I've found you, now get out!"

"The kyuubi vessel."

If Naruto didn't recognize the voice, he would have surely recognized the figure's robes—Akatsuki robes, dark blue with crimson clouds. His eyes widened before he immediately regained his stance, his hand reaching for another kunai. "You! I'm not afraid of you this time, and I'll fight you if I have to!"

Naruto saw him approach one of the few lighted areas, exposing his tall, dark figure and his piercing red eyes. Fear grasped Naruto like a chilled hand, and his once firm hold on the kunai began to falter. This was as good a time as any to practically apply this training.

"_Kage bunshin no jutsu_!"

Naruto in cooperation with his clone then scrambled to prepare an attack with Rasengan, as Itachi calmly made his way forward.

"_Raseng—_"

Before Naruto could make sense of things, Itachi was already standing in front of him, his head resting in the crook of Naruto's neck, one hand covering his mouth and the other on his wrist, his clone vanished and the chakra of his Rasengan gone. Naruto struggled to land a punch, a kick—_anything_—on Itachi, but the latter's hold on him was too secure. His attempts to resist all ended in futility, for he knew that despite his best efforts, he would never be able to escape, especially when he was restrained like this.

"I'm here to collect what I want."

Upon feeling Itachi's breath so delicately dance on the edge of his ears, Naruto, like before, failed to suppress a shudder that echoed down his entire body. Roughly freeing his mouth from Itachi's hold, Naruto retorted, "Shove off, you'll never get it, bastard."

"And what, may I ask, is exactly preventing me?"

Naruto was never able to voice his reply, because at that moment, Itachi's hand again crawled beneath Naruto's uniform and began to caress Naruto's tattooed seal, and again, the latter noticed a certain gentleness to his touch. Naruto bit his lip partially out of anger, but mostly to stifle a moan that would've otherwise escaped his lips.

"I want you to come with me. With the power of the nine-tailed fox, you could be invincible. I want to harvest that power."

"Get off me!" Naruto seethed through gritted teeth. Frustration built within like conflagrating fire as he continued spit back to Itachi's face, "Piss off, you piece of shit! Get the _hell_ off of me!"

"Your body seems to say the contrary."

Naruto angrily launched a punch but wasn't surprised when it missed.

"Come with me. Give me your power. You won't reach your full potential by way of the training you're currently undertaking. Come with me, and I can make you so much more powerful than they can."

Naruto tried to answer, but with every word he spoke, Naruto could feel Itachi's breath leisurely travel the exposed line of his neck, inch by achingly slow inch. Unconsciously, Naruto fluttered close his eyes and turned his head, exposing as much of his bare neck as he dared. Meanwhile, Itachi's other hand wandered from his wrist, up his arm, to his face, where it cupped his cheek.

Why—Naruto would curse himself later for this—didn't he take this opportunity to resist with his now free hand, futile as the results may have been?

And how they seemed to fit so nicely with one another, Naruto noted, as Itachi further pressed their bodies even closer.

"Look at me." Seemingly brought back to reality, Naruto shut his eyes, resolutely turning away from the Akatsuki member. But Itachi was insistent. "Look at me." Encouraged by the confident, commanding—but unthreatening—tone of Itachi's voice, Naruto slowly turned to meet his gaze. Blue met red, like water and fire, complete opposites.

"I will come back for you."

In just a moment, Itachi had released his hold on Naruto and disappeared. When Naruto was finally able to get a hold of his senses, he slumped onto the floor, his hands fisting his hair and his teeth gritting in exasperation. He heard only his own uneven, heavy breathing in the quiet of the woods.

--

The next time Naruto saw Itachi was during Team 7's mission to rescue the Kazekage, who was also his friend, Gaara, from the Akatsuki. Upon seeing the darkly clothed figure in the distance, Kakashi had immediately shouted for both him and Sakura to shut their eyes and avoid his gaze, lest they should be drawn into his illusions. However, in defiance to Kakashi's words and to his own common sense—which he was sure worked only for his own good—Naruto looked up and met Itachi's eyes.

He wondered what he was exactly looking for in his red eyes, but when they met his, he simply stopped searching. Instead, he stared at Itachi, who was staring back, blue meeting red, Naruto seeing Itachi and Itachi seeing Naruto, and both seeing the essence of vulnerability.

Then, Naruto felt the familiar sensation of breath fluttering upon his skin like butterflies. He could feel hands slowly, patiently, and tenderly exploring the expanse of his skin, along his arms, down his back, and upon the tattooed seal on his abdomen. Then, he could feel the gentlest of kisses mark a trail from the base of his neck at his collarbone, up his neck, to his cheek. There the kisses briefly paused until Naruto slightly turned, to meet the waiting mouth with his own. He could almost smell the earthiness of Itachi's scent as if he were standing right next to him—

"Naruto! Sakura! On your guard!" Kakashi reminded, abruptly pulling the blonde from his reverie. There were no more kisses, no more caresses, and no more of Itachi's redolence. Itachi's eyes were no longer focused on him but on the figure of his team leader. "You're becoming increasingly blind, aren't you? Your eyes can no longer handle the power of the Sharingan…"

Drowning away Kakashi's voice was the voice of another. And suddenly, Naruto heard, _I'm not here to hurt you._

And for some reason, Naruto believed him.

_I will come back for you._

--

When Itachi found Naruto alone in his apartment in Konoha after the mission, there was only a moment of hesitation before the two were drawn to each other like powerful magnets, hands exploring, kisses bruising, and passion igniting. The two struggled to the bedroom and nearly missed the bed, as they collapsed together onto the unmade sheets. Naruto grabbed Itachi like dear life and Itachi onto Naruto like an addiction.

Naruto knew he could've resisted had he wanted, and that taking opportunity of Itachi's current—_preoccupation_—would've been advantageous. Itachi knew that he could've stopped had he wanted, and that breaking past Naruto's emotional and physical defenses would've been no less than auspicious. But, of course, in the heat of passion and ardor, neither really knew what was and wasn't happening and what they should've and shouldn't have done. Reality was blurred with their lust and fervor, until the lines between friend and foe were left indistinguishable.

Itachi quickly helped Naruto out of his jacket and shirt, the latter readily complying. In response, Naruto pulled at the other's robes, staring vexingly at the interfering material. As soon as bare flesh met bare flesh, both exhaled in pleasure, their bodies fitting together so perfectly, with Itachi moving above him and Naruto arching underneath him. And then, they kissed and kissed and kissed.

Naruto secretly loved Itachi's hair—long, dark, smooth, elegant; it was the complete opposite of his own. He boldly reached for the tie behind Itachi's head, and with one gentle effort, pulled it off, letting his hair splay across his back like magnificent silk. Whenever he had the chance, Naruto would weave his fingers through his hair, which fell upon his shoulders like finite, black waterfalls, the ends of which sometimes tickled his own skin. But very often, he was forced out of his moments of adoration for Itachi would bite him like _that_ or touch him _right there_, just so _perfectly_, causing Naruto to exhale a moan of pleasure, release his hold on Itachi's hair in order to clutch the latter's back, gasping, _More, more…!_

For a moment, they paused, breathing heavily. Naruto looked up, stealing only a glimpse of Itachi's eyes, because the latter had quickly turned away. Naruto was sure he had seen it. He was sure he had seen warmth.

But he would never bring it up. He felt Itachi's hand caressing his abdomen, where he knew, without having to look, he was tracing the seal.

Because, in the same moment, Naruto had also seen Itachi destroyed.

--

"I'm screwed."

Sakura looked at her teammate confusedly. "What do you mean, Naruto?"

"I'm screwed. I'm screwed. I don't know how the hell it happened, but I'm screwed!" Naruto was pacing back and forth, flailing his arms in frustration. His brow was furrowed in chagrin.

Sakura took hold of Naruto and sat him down on the nearest bench. "Hey, why don't you relax? You've been acting a bit, err, _unusual_ recently. Anything you'd like to talk about?"

"It wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to get to the point where I felt anything other than hate for the guy. But he changed first! Or maybe he didn't, I don't know, but…"

Unsure of how to respond, Sakura opted for changing the subject. She was suddenly hit with what she believed a divine afflatus. "Hey, I've got a great idea! Let's get some ramen," she offered, hoping to alleviate some of her friend's obvious stress. "I can pay if you don't have any money on you."

Naruto answered as if he hadn't heard her. "Damn it, I'm screwed. I need to go home."

This had to be serious, Sakura thought; Naruto had just rejected an opportunity for free ramen.

--

Naruto didn't even have to turn around to know that Itachi had entered his apartment. He continued standing against the open window in his darkened bedroom, his eyes focused on the luminescent full moon above him. He didn't even flinch, for he felt no fear. He even leaned backwards when he felt arms circle his waist.

In just their embrace, Naruto could feel a sense of finality. This would be their last meeting, he knew, a time for final embraces, final kisses, and final words, to say what they needed to say. Even if Itachi wouldn't answer, Naruto had nothing to lose.

"Collecting the kyuubi?" he asked, trying to keep his tone casual, as he turned around.

Naruto knew not to expect an answer, but he also didn't expect Itachi to gently pull up the sleeve of his orange shirt and kiss his exposed shoulder. Then, as Naruto had learned that Itachi loved to do, he kissed from his shoulder and across the nape of his neck to his throat, even planting kisses through the cloth of his bunched-up sleeve.

"Why?" Naruto held onto Itachi's face, so that they were looking at each other. The moonlight pooled in through the open window, drowning them in pale blues, which, instead of subduing the intensity of Itachi's gaze, only accented the redness of his Sharingan eyes. Naruto no longer feared them; in fact, he had begun to admire their beauty. How they looked like garnets, he mused. And how they looked glazed, almost unfocused…

Naruto wanted to ask how. He wanted to ask when. He wanted to ask why. Why did Itachi's eyes lack the same sharp light that they held the first time Naruto had seen them? Why had he even bothered to come see him all these times? Why hadn't he killed him yet? Why hadn't he extracted the kyuubi yet? What did it all mean? Since when did he even care?

But even as Naruto asked why again and again and again, he knew that he would never receive an answer. This information wasn't his to know. But he understood that there were more layers to the character named Uchiha Itachi than what met the eye, that there was something more to his actions as a missing-nin and as an associate of the Akatsuki than most knew. There had been something else; there was something more. But as to what it was, Naruto would never know. But he needn't.

All he needed to know was that Itachi was still capable of kissing him like that, of caressing him like this, and holding him like he needed, like he genuinely needed, him in their final meeting. He was grateful for that much. Naruto reached for Itachi's hands and kissed each one of his fingertips, glancing at each of his darkly polished fingernails.

Itachi brushed the bangs across Naruto's forehead. "So these are the eyes with which my younger brother fell in love. They are memorable, they are beautiful."

Naruto suddenly loved Itachi's voice, its deepness and confidence, and how tender—_loving_—words seemed to mellifluously slip off his tongue, as if he hadn't spent his entire life speaking curses against his village and family and all who crossed paths with him.

Naruto asked, "What do you want?"

"Protect my younger brother."

"Yes."

Itachi held Naruto even closer.

Naruto wanted to stare into his eyes, but he already knew what he would see. They would be like glass.

--

In the end, his vision is white. Not black, he muses.

He smiles.

Itachi smiles as he falls down to the ground. He smiles, knowing that his brother is safe and that he has loved. That he has given, it has been returned, even if no one will ever know the truth.

End

Note(s): This is for Itachi, one of the greatest characters in _Naruto_. I love him—in fact, everyone loves him in some way, including Naruto. ItaNaru FTW! I greatly enjoyed writing this, and though I know I compromised some of the characterizations in order to get Itachi and Naruto to get together (it was worth it, though, right?), I hope that you still enjoyed it! Thanks for reading, and if you could, please leave a comment/review; it'd be greatly appreciated!


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